Poolside Riddles at Midnight

The **water** in the Miller's backyard **pool** glittered like liquid stars, and somewhere inside me, my anxiety was doing backflips. I didn't do parties. I definitely didn't do pool parties where everyone else looked like they'd stepped out of a TikTok feed, and I was just... background character energy.

"You coming in or what?" Maya called from the deep end. She'd already been **swimming** for twenty minutes while I sat on the edge, dipping my toes in like some kind of liability-conscious amphibian.

"I'm good!" I called back, lying through my teeth. My phone buzzed. A text from my mom asking if I was having fun. Classic.

That's when I noticed her—the girl sitting on the diving board, legs crossed, watching everything like she was taking mental notes for a documentary. Rumor said her nickname was **Sphinx**, because she never spoke but always knew everyone's secrets. That night, under the string lights and suburban humidity, she looked like she was guarding something important.

"You know," Sphinx said, suddenly appearing beside me, "the longer you wait, the scarier it gets. That's scientific fact."

I jumped. "I thought you didn't talk."

"I talk when it matters." She tilted her head toward the pool. "First time?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"You've been psyching yourself up for thirty minutes. I clocked you when you were still fully dressed and holding your phone like a lifeline." She stood up, offering me a hand. "I'm Lenora. The Sphinx thing is mostly bullshit."

Her hand was warm. "Chloe."

"Well, Chloe, you can keep sitting here fake-texting your mom, or you can jump in with me. Fair warning: I'm going in."

Before I could process, Lenora launched herself into the **water** with a splash that soaked half the people floating on inflatables. She surfaced, grinning. "Your move, background character."

Something in my chest shifted. Maybe it was the way she'd seen through everything. Maybe it was just time.

I jumped.

The shock of cold **water** knocked the air out of me in the best way possible. When I surfaced, Maya was cheering, Lenora was high-fiving some random guy, and for the first time all night, I wasn't watching myself from the outside.

"Not bad," Lenora said. "But next time, don't wait for an existential crisis."

"There's going to be a next time?"

"Same time next week." She winked. "If you're brave enough."

I laughed, actually laughed, and realized I already was.